Our Initiatives

An ESUN Article

We encourage you to visit The Initiative's website. Part of it is devoted to our various initiatives, some of which are listed below. We encourage you to become involved in them.

SFA Elizabeth Shriver Memorial Research Awards

The $75,000 which we donated to the Sarcoma Foundation of America (SFA) is beginning to bear fruit. As part of its mission, SFA provides "Starter Research Grants" to investigators working in basic science sarcoma research. This SFA program encourages research involving the development of novel agents against sarcoma or research that could potentially lead to the development of novel agents against sarcoma. SFA notified the Shriver Family today that three doctors have just received SFA Elizabeth Shriver Memorial Research Awards.

Dr. van de Rijn in the Department of Pathology at Stanford University will investigate "Molecular Classification of Sarcoma Cell Lines."
Dr. Frederic G. Barr in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania will investigate "Molecular dissection of a subset of gene fusion-associated sarcomas that lack the gene fusion."
Dr. Lisa Wang in the Department of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine will study "The Role of RECQ Helicases in the Pathogenesis of Osteosarcoma."

SFA’s distinguished Medical Advisory Board, co-chaired by Dr. Murray Brennan of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City and Dr. George Demetri of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, selected these grant proposals for funding from among those submitted to its research grant program. Dr. Mark Thornton, president of the SFA, commented, “The recipients were chosen on the basis of work most likely to result in real sarcoma treatment advances in the next 5-10 years. The quality of the applications for funding this year was outstanding.” Upon hearing of the awards, the Shrivers added, “We are delighted to learn about these research grants and hope that the results of these studies will be the basis for advancements in the treatment and cure of sarcoma and ultimately help the families struggling with this disease.”

April 15-18, 2004 Memorial Bike Ride for Liddy

The Memorial Bike Ride for Liddy was an amazing success in our efforts to increase public awareness of sarcoma and the lack of young adults in cancer-related clinical trials. Over 270 cyclists biked worldwide, including Team Sarcomas in Italy, Hong Kong, Poland, Portugal, Norway, Serbia, Sweden, the Ukraine, and in the United States, with 2 teams in California, Florida, Hawaii, 3 teams in Illinois, Louisiana, Minnesota, New Jersey, 3 teams in New York (Brooklyn, Croton, and Westchester), and a team in North Carolina. A number of articles appeared in local and national presses. One such story about the Memorial Bike Ride appears on the Ossining.com website. You need to go through a free registration process (which only takes a few seconds), but we think you'll enjoy the article which also contains photos of several Virtual Bike Tours riders from around the world. Team Sarcoma photos and commentaries about the various rides will be posted on The Initiative's website soon.

Sarcoma Facts

The list of "Sarcoma Facts" that appears on our website has been translated into 15 languages. The most recent addition is a translation in Polish. These lists have been used on Team Sarcoma T-shirts and on posters, hand-outs, etc. in several different countries. Please contact us if you would like to assist us in translating the Sarcoma Facts to one or more additional languages.

Fall 2004 Silent Auction

We're planning a silent auction in the fall of this year. More details on this will be provided as the plans become more definite.

2003 Shriver Family Bike Tour for Sarcoma Research

During early July 2003, 28 members of Team Sarcoma took to the bike paths and back roads of Denmark. They were joined by 260 Virtual Bike Tour riders from around the world. Read about this amazing event, which raised over $75,000 for the Sarcoma Foundation of America.

2003 Cycle Zydeco Ride

This was the very first initiative Team Sarcoma undertook. In April 2003, eight of us took to the back roads of south central Louisiana. We raised over $14,000 for sarcoma research at Columbia University. Read more about this inaugural event.

Feedback and/or Volunteer

We would appreciate receiving any comments or questions regarding the content of this column as well as a note from those of you who would like to volunteer to help us with our efforts. Click here to contact us.